resignation of c.i.a. director david petraeus. bob orr has the latest. with tens of thousands still suffering from super storm sandy, a volunteer army pitches in to help. our tony guida watches them at work. >> i'm astound by the response from new york. >> axelrod: challenges facing china's new leaders. bill whitaker shows us just how far the country has come in a single generation. and take a look at the latest muscle car. you won't believe whose muscle created it. priya clemens introduces us to the design team. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news." >> axelrod: good evening. i'm jim axelrod. we are learning more tonight about the investigation that led to the abrupt resignation of c.i.a. chief and retired four-star general david petraeus. petraeus admitted to an affair and submitted his resignation to president obama, and now it

turns out, it was the f.b.i. that discovered the relationship was with his biographer. homeland security correspondent bob orr is standing by in washington tonight. good evening, bob. >> reporter: good evening, jim. well, david petraeus is one of america's most decorated and reveered generals. as head of the c.i.a., he was in charge of the nation's most sensitive operations, but the ridgedly disciplined p/e was hiding his own dark secret. sources say c.i.a. director david petraeus was never the target of an f.b.i. investigation but when his name surfaced in another probe, agents became concerned that petraeus, or his e-mail accounts, may have been compromised. it all began a few months ago when a female acquaintance of the c.i.a. director received a series of harassing e-mails which apparently referenced petraeus. the woman, who sources say is not a government official, notified the f.b.i. federal agents quickly traced those e-mails back to petraeus'

biographer, paula broadwell. a further investigation then revealed evidence of an extra marital affair, including numerous cryptic emales between the retired four-star general and broadwell. broadwell spent time with petraeus when he commanded forces in afghanistan doing research for her book "all in: the education of general david petraeus." on a publicity tour last february, the married mother of two children made this comment: >> i'm not in love with david petraeus, but i think he does present a terrific role model for young people for executives, for men and women. >> reporter: petraeus, who is also a married father of two, publicly praised his wife, holly, during his senate confirmation hearing. >> she is an army daughter an army wife, an army mother and an advocate for military families. i've been blessed to have had her in my corn for some 37 years and 23 moves and i appreciate the opportunity this afternoon to recognize her publicly. >> reporter: but in his resignation message to the c.i.a. workforce, petraeus

confessed a moral failing saying he used "extremely poor judgment which was unacceptable, both as a husband andals the leader of an organization such as ours." the f.b.i. investigation now is winding down. there's no evidence any sensitive c.i.a. information was ever compromised and no one's expect, "jim, to face any criminal charges. >> axelrod: bob orr in washington, thank you. four days after election day, florida made it official-- president obama is the narrow winner there. after counting proscrigzal and absentee ballots, florida's secretary of state says the president defeated mitt romney by some 74,000 votes, just enough to avoid an automatic recount. with his florida victory, mr. obama ends up with a final tally of 332 electoral votes to romney's 206. in parts of the northeast this weekend, patience with the slow pace of recovery from super storm sandy is running as low as gasoline and power.

found of homes and businesses in new york and new jersey have remained without power tonight. on long island, hundreds of angry people demonstrated outside the headquarters of the local power authority for a second straight day. with utilities and public agencies strained to breaking point, volunteers are rushing to fill the gap. here's tony guida. >> reporter: 12 days ago, sandy slammed into the rockaways, the storm drowned everything here, except hope. >> you need help? your parents do. what's their address? >> reporter: jamie jord expan her sister, jillian, rockaways born and bred have been work releaptlessly to save it. >> that's my block! >> reporter: before phenomenon abefore the red crots, before any assistance arrived, the jordan sisters organized volunteers to help reclaim the community. john mccann's basement, for example, eight feet of salt

water destroyed it. today, four volunteers help mccann strip it bear to prevent mold. they were sent by the jordan sisters. >> they took the bull by the horns and they've been running with it ever since. >> when we sent out volunteers, we would say, "you're going to gloria's house. her husband passed away, and she's there all by herself, and she needs her basement." >> reporter: doing that kind of thing just multiplied throughout the community. >> and it-- the word spread like wildfire. >> reporter: howard schneider is glad it did. accepted hit him hard. >> when we come here, sometimes there's strangers in our house just digging. >> reporter: a falank of volunteers dug the beach out of schneider's basement. he said never in his life has he hugged so many strangers. >> what these volunteers have done just today alone would have taken me five months to do. >> the jordan sisters take no credit. >> i'm astounded by the response from new york, how they've come down in droves.

it's overwhelming, and, frankly, astounding that they would come down here and want to do this kind of work. >> reporter: jamie and jillian jordan said they'll thank everyone properly next summer with a big memorial day party on their reclaimed beach. tony guide aseebles news, the rocka aways, new york. >> axelrod: accepted did a number on more than homes and other structureses. cars and trucks took a big hit as well, from the vehicles in owners' driveways and granlz, to brand new impors fresh off the boat. >> this is for my wife. >> reporter: in new jersey, nelson burgos bought this new nissan jute today. he had no choice. sandy's floodwaters destroyed both cars sitting in his parking lot. >> it's all full of water. there's still water in the glove department. >> reporter: burgos got a deal-- $1500 below dealer invoice. sansone auto mall alone today will sell 50 new cars to storm victims. they're eligible for special discounts from nissan and other

auto its makers. >> $1500 comes in handy, yes, and in the time of need where we're at right now. >> reporter: in queens, new york, jerry aliberti bought two nissans to replace the two he lost during the hurricane. >> the seats are all soaked. they're inundated with this muck, this dirty water that infiltrated the car. >> reporter: across the northeast, sandy dnld or destroyed at least 100,000 cars and trucks. full replacement value, at least $3 billion. koppel nissan, where alverty bought his new cars, lost 150 vehiclevehicles to sandy. at the port of newark, north america's major entry point for fish of finish cars, flooforts ruined 11,000 new ones. hasn't homeowners have insurance that covers damage, like nelson burgos, who need to buy himself a car so he it stop paying $400 a week to rent one.

this is moving forward one more step. >> that's right. >> reporter: and you have to buy one more car. >> i have to buy one more. >> reporter: this is mile square towing in hoboken. tow trucks bring a dozen ruined vehicles just like these in here every day, so insurance inspectors can certify the losses and their owners can find newcar deals of their own. jim. >> axelrod: mark strassmann in new jersey for us tonight, thank you. overseas now, the newly elected leader of syria's main opposition group today criticized the international community for not doing enough to help overthrow the regime of bashar al-assad. he told russian tv there is no civil war. >> reporter: syria is being laid to waste. shattered by 20 months of grinding conflict that's turned cities into war zones, and

once-peaceful neighborhoods into rubble. today, two suicide bombers killed at least 20 government soldiers according to opposition groups. the target was a military facility in dura, where the syrian uprising began last year amid hopes that the regime could be toppled. instead, the government is determined to stay in power. and tens of thousands of syrians have paid with their lives. this young boy survived an attack that tore through concrete walls. he was carried away, but not to safety. because he lives in a country at war with itself. yesterday, 11,000 syrians fled their country in one of the biggest exoduses since the fighting began. most crossed into turkey, driven by deadly clashes close to the border in the town ras al-ayn.

more than 400,000 syrian refugees are now living in camps. the united nations expects 300,000 more by early next year. and millions of people still inside syria need food and clothing as the winter sets in. but getting them that help in a country torn apart by civil war may be impossible. holly williams, cbs news, london. >> axelrod: later, how economic growth is transforming china. a designer car powered by a surprising design team. and the super pac scorecard. did big money pay off big at the polls? those stories when the cbs evening news continues.

and house speaker boehner continue to stake out their ground in the debate over the looming fiscal cliff. both made radio addresses today. the president said any compromise must include higher taxes for families making more than $250,000 a year. the speaker called instead for closing special interest loopholes. campaign 2012 was the most expensive ever. overall spending topped the $6 billion mark, driven by super pacs. as michelle miller now tells us, many low-profile candidates benefitted from super pac money, cash that in some cases came from a single person. >> my job is to make sure they do represent your best interests. >> reporter: carrie bentiviolio won his election this year as a freshman congressman from michigan. >> i'm never, ever going to raise taxes unless there's a war. >> reporter: this former school teacher and political newcomer might not have gotten this far without a super pac,. liberty for all spent $800,000

to help bentiviolio win his republican primary. >> god bless them because it was wonderful. >> reporter: the backing came from john ramsey, a 22-year-old college senior from texas who inherited millions from his grandfather and launched the political action committee. >> we did this to get in the business of freeing america from your phonies and cronies that currently dominate the political establishment. >> reporter: ramsey is a libertarian who believes in lower taxes, less government spending, and more civil liberties. when ron paul dropped out of the presidential race, ramsey looked for a new outlet for his political energy. >> with a super pac you're able to facilitate a conversation. you're able to provide voters access to information. >> reporter: democrat tim bishop, a five-term new york congressman, was the target of another small super pac created to remove him from office. >> the big hearts beat big checks every day of the week. >> reporter: bishop was hit by $1 million in negative ads and direct mail from prosperity

first. $750,000 came from one constituent, hedge fund manager robert mercer. mercer declined to answer questions but bishop believes he might have been motivate bide bishop's vote for new financial industry regulation. >> what it was designed to do is to fix some of the systemic problems that resulted in the worst financial collapse this country has had since the great depression. >> reporter: bishops was one of 63 house races this year with where outside groups like super pacs spent $1 million or more. >> what i fear we're approaching is a process in which elections are bought and sold as opposed to won and lost. >> reporter: bishop was able to hold on to his seat. still, spending in races for the house, the senate, and the presidency by outside groups topped $1 billion this year. michelle miller, cbs news, new york. >> axelrod: ahead, china, whatalize ahead for its new

leaders. >> axelrod: it is another leap

forward for china in space. china announced plans to launch its fourth man mission to space in june. ed shenzhou rocket would carry three crew members to continue work towards a manned space station. china has said it it is also working on landing a person on the moon. now the world's number two economy, change has come quickly to china, and next week, a new lineup of leaders will be chosen. bill whitaker is in beijing. >> reporter: by the time the people's congress ends next week, vice president xi jinping will be chine's new president. his job for the next decade? to keep this powerhouse economy

growing and the communist party in power. i was last on assignment in china almost 20 years ago. a lot has changed in that time. i certainly have. who would have thought that a nation of more than a billion people, the most populous in the world... china has changed tremendously. back then, beijing was low rise with bicycles. beijing now is one big traffic jam with high rises to the horizon, designer shops seem to be on every corner. people here joke the crane is china's national bird. despite all these changes, actually because of them, the big story remains the same-- china's tremendous economic growth. the challenge for china's new leaders, to sustain growth in the face of staggering problems, rampant political corruption, a widening gap between rich and poor, choking pollution, and a populous increasingly discontent about it all. >> they've got so many problems

and economy is slowing down, the current economic mod cell running out of steam. they've got no choice but to reform. >> reporter: my first assignment in china was to cover the brutal crackdown on student protesters on tiananmen square. chinese government television told its people and the world there was no conflict, that no one died at tiananmen square. no one here talks about that any more, but pressure for change today comes not from the square but from across the country. >> the party really doesn't have a lot of credibility beyond economic development because of the history of all the terrible political persecution, and things that have gone on here. so for the chinese people, it's all about do i have a better life? >> reporter: how china's new leaders answer that question could determine the future of the communist party and choina. bill whitaker, cbs news,

beijing. >> axelrod: and we'll be back.

state, a military court heard testimony on a video feed from afghanistan about a massacre last march. u.s. staff sergeant robert bales is accused of murdering 16 afghan civilians, most of them children. one of the eyewitnesses, a 14-year-old boy, testified that he saw an american soldier shooting and begged him to stop, screaming, "we are children. we are children." bales was in the courtroom but showed no emotion. pakistan today marked "malala day." children across the country turned out to show their support for the 15-year-old girl shot in the head by the taliban last month. they also called on the world to join malala's campaign for girls' rights to an education.

malala is recovering in a british hospital. his flock numbers 1 billion catholic faith full but now pope benedict is going to add some followers. the vatican says the 85-year-old pontiff has opened a twitter account. no word yet on a handle. coming up, a new breed of muscle car designers muscling into the spotlight. >> axelrod: a fully ld

muscle car has long been a symbol of red-blood american manhood. but as priya clemens shows us, the cars aren't changing but who is designing them is. >> reporter: as in any show dedicated to the automobile, the car is the star. but sharing the spotlight for this 2013 mustang g.t. is the team behind it-- 40 women who work in the auto industry, banding together to, design, and install every part.

cars aren't just a hobby. they're a passion. >> my very favorite car is my own car, a 1955 studebaker champion. >> reporter: for kristin cline it was a whim at first. >> i bought a car knowing nothing. i had never changed a tire. never changed oil. >> reporter: now, she's rebuilding engines. >> this is the project that i'm working on right now. it's a 1960 ford falcon. >> reporter: once she had visions of medical school. >> one day want to own my own garage. >> the '51 ford f1. how can you not have the sanford & son truck. it's awesome. >> reporter: as for crew chief colf-- >> a '68 firebird. i will will will never part with that. i will be buried in that car. >> reporter: as they blaze a trail, they are dealing with stereotypes. >> oh, your man is letting you drive his carc how special. little do they know i've done all the work myself and really

it's my car. >> i've gone so far at various times in the past to have a license plate that says "hers." >> reporter: the completed mustang is also deifying gender roles. >> everybody thinks if a woman is going to customize a car. it's going to be pink and cute. we like to build some bad monsters as well and i'd like to not put fuzzy dice on them. >> underneath they have themselves nearly a race car and nobody is going to be expecting that. >> reporter: the mustang sold at auction this week for $46,000, the money going to a scholarship fund to help future designers, men and women. priya clemens, cbs news, los angeles. >> axelrod: and that's the cbs evening news for tonight. i'm jim axelrod. good night. captioning sponsor we'll have the latest from denver international... "they're gonna notice out of place with your house and vice versa." a bay area crime wave may have come to an end... the neighbors who teamed up - to

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